Sewing-machine take-up



(No Model.)

J. E. A. GIBBS.

SEWING MACHINE TAKE-UP.

Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

6. MLa/amm/ N. PETERS. PhoXo-Limo m nm. Wnshingwn. D. C.

' nized.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JAMES E. A. GIBBS, OF STEELES TAVERN, VIRGINIA.

SEWING-MACHINE TAKE- UP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,814, dated November 26, 1889.

Application filed March 19, 1881. Renewed August 15, 1888. Serial No. 282,759. (No model.)

To all w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. A. GIBBS, of Steeles Tavern, in the county of Rockbridge and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lock-Stitch Sewing-Machines, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates more particularly to the means for taking up the needle-loops after interlocking with the under thread, in order to tighten and complete the stitches. In machines heretofore constructed this action has been almost exclusively performed by mechanism to which a reciprocating movement is imparted through a cam or other appropriate device. Rotary take-ups of various kinds have been devised; but they have not gone into common use, although the advantages in point of speed and ease and smoothness of running of rotary over reciprocating mechanism have long been recog- It is not deemed necessary here to fullydiscuss the reasons for the failure of these devices; but four principal causes may be mentionedto wit, their operation by mechanism giving an irregular rotary movement or variable'velocity of rotation, their location in the machine at the back or to the right of the stationary arm or goose'neck,

their application mainly to machines of the class using a shuttle to interlock the upper and under threads, and the use of devices which cast off the tightened loop to release the thread. If the take-up be given a variable velocity of rotation, being turned more rapidly at one part of each revolution than at another, not only is the mechanism necessary to operate it complicated, but, which is more important, the ease and smoothness of running are interfered with, for the take-up has to be held back during one part of each revolution (its momentum tending to carry it forward at its former velocity) and at another part of its revolution has to be advanced rapidly in order to restore its velocity. Thus an effect of push and pull is produced similar (though less in degree) to that which accompanie's reciprocatory movements. Being lo- 'cated at the back of the goose-neck, the thread must be carried through several tlireadguides, and a long length is left between the take-up and eye of the needle. This length being drawn through the thread-guides at each stitch increases the wear upon the thread, and by its elasticity interferes with the proper tightening of the stitch.

The speed of shuttle machines being limited by the rapidity with which the shuttle can be operated and the loop being small and capable of being taken up by the time the needle-bar reaches the top of its stroke,a small and light reciprocating device can be moved at the moderate speed and through the small distance required by a connection with the needle-bar without difficulty, and it can be more readily made and applied than a rotary device such as heretofore known.

Cast-offs are uncertain in their action. The thread is liable either to be released before the time by'dropping off the piece (a pin or other suitable device) which acts upon the thread, or to beheld after it should be released, thus producing an uneven seam.

The rotary take-ups heretofore known may not all be open to each of the objections stated; but in general this is the case, and

there are also special objections to particular devices.

In the present invention the difficulties are overcome. The rotary take-up, being carried by a shaft revolving continuously with -a uniform velocity and supported in hearings in or upon the goose-neck, is located above the cloth-plate in or on the head of the machine, and is applied to a sewing-machine producing a lock-stitch by means of a looper or hook which carries the needle-loop around a stationary bobbin. on the head of the machine and so combined with the needle, needle-bar, and looper or hook that it acts upon the thread near the eye of the needle, and as near as may be in the plane of the latter, draws up the loop evenly, and controls the thread perfectly, while at the same time it has a regular rotary motion. Cast-offs are dispensed with, the release as well as the lightening of the thread being effected positively by the rotation of eccentric pins, which constitute the device for acting upon the thread. The arrangement It is so arranged in or preferably adopted is to have the looper or hook inside the needle and the rotary takeup in or on the head of the machine outside the needle-bar. The driving-shaft or means and B the goose-neck or stationary arm.

for operating the needle-bar does not then interfere with the free working of the take-up.

In the accompanyin g drawings, which form a part of this specification, are shown the principal parts of a rotary-hook machine embodying the invention.

Figure 1 is a view in elevation and longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 1, a sectional view through the head of the machine, the take-up being removed; Fig. 2, a plan taking in the head of the machine and a portion of the goose-neck or stationary arm; and Fig. 3, a front View, partly in section.

A is the main plate of the machine-frame,

the latter the main shaft 0 turns in bearings, being driven by a belt on the pulley O, or by other suitable means. From a gear (1 on the main shaft power is conveyed to the rotary-hook shaft D by two intermediate gears C and C and a pinion D on the shaft D, the pinion D being half the size of the gear C so that the shaft D is revolved at twice the speed of the main shaft. The needle-bar F is operated through a pitman F by a crank F on the main shaft 0. The take-up His rotary and is fixed to the outer end of the shaft 0. The rotary hook K is fixed upon its shaft D. It makes, therefore, two revolutions for each reciprocation of the needle.

The hook or looper may be of any ordinary or suitable construction and can be operated in any suitable way. A hook geared to revolve continuously at a uniform speed in one direction and to make two revolutions to each reciprocation of the needle-bar is represented as being on the whole the best adapted to use in connection with the rotary take-up, but a hook or looper geared to revolve intermittently or with a variable speed in one direction or alternately in opposite directions could be substituted therefor.

The needle-bar moves in guide-holes in the head of the machine, and is connected with a cross-head F which is guided by the press er-bar G. To this cross-head the pitman F connected at the lower end by a stud on the cross-head, conveys the movement of the crank in a vertical direction. In order to obtain a slower movement at the top of the stroke of the needle-bar to give time for the action of the takeup,'the pitman is made short relatively to the throw of the crank. The presser-bar G is free to move in guideholes in the head of the machine, and is held down by a spring in any ordinary or suitable way. In the construction shown in the drawings one end of a spiral spring bears against a pin inserted in a hole in' the bar, while its upper end presses against the head of the machine. To raise and lower the presser-bar, an eccentric or cam lever G is pivoted to the head of the machine and acts upon a pin fixed to the presser-bar, which pin works in a slot and serves to steady the bar.

The tension G4 is of any ordinary or suitthread.

able construction. The thread is led from the spool-holder Gr around the pin g, thence between the washers of the tension, then through the bend in the upper part of the pin 9 to the take-up, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The take-up II is formed of two disks or plates h h, held about one-sixteenth of an inch apart by two washers with grooved edges and connected by rivets passing through the plates and washers. For convenience these rivets and washers are represented as solid pins 71 71/3. The take-up is fastened to the end of the main shaft by a screw which passes through the inner plate only, or by means which will leave the space between the plates at the center open for the passage of the The periphery of the plates on the side toward the operator (it may be entirely around, if desired) is covered by a segment of a ring H, in which are slotted holes h IL9 for the passage of the thread. In order to keep the thread in the slot h to which it is led from the pin g, a shortplate or bar 71. is secured to the segment H at one end and projects across said slot. The bar or plate should preferably be a spring, so as to bear at its free end against the upper surface of the segment H and prevent accidental escape of the thread from the hole. From this hole It the thread is passed to the left between the plates of the take-up into the slotted hole It.

In operation the needle I, which is fastened in the lower end of theneedle-bar, carries the loop of the upper thread down through the fabric in the' usual way. As it rises, the hook catches the loop and carries it around the bobbin and bobbin-case. (Not shown.) The bobbin containing the under thread is, with its case, suspended within the hook by a stationary hanging-piece or hanger, or retained therein in any suitable way. hen the loop has been carried under or half-way around the bobbin and case, the needle having meantime ascended above the fabric, the take-up begins to act and the loop slips oif -the hook and is drawn up, completing the The take-up operation is threefoldz.

stitch. first, the thread is drawn up rapidly and more slowly as the stitch is completed and fresh thread is drawn from the spool; second, the thread is slackened slowly at first and then more rapidly, and, third, the thread is but little affected by the take-up during the rest of its revolution, but is left free to be drawn down by the hook.

It will be seen that the pin 7L or washer nearest the center has but little effect in drawing up the loop; butin slackeningit regulates the giving up of the thread.

As the particular construction of the rotary hook shown and of the bobbin, bobbin-case, and devices for retaining them in position form no part of this invention, itis not deemed necessary to describe them herein; but they are fully described, together With other improvements, in Letters Patent No. 239,998,

granted to Chas. II. Willcox, of New York, and myself, as joint inventors, and dated April 12, 1881. The special construction of the take-up and combinations of it with other elements as claimed in that patent are not claimed herein, but so far as they are referred to are only described incidentally to illustrate the manner in'which the invention is or may be carried into effect.

The rotary take-up in or on the head of the machine, as indicated, can be combined with the stitch-forming devices shown in Letters Patent No. 196,116, granted to me October 16, 1877, by substitutingit for the reciprocating or vibrating device shown and employing an additional shaft in the goose-neck; or the needle-bar, as well as the take-up, can be operated by a shaft in the gooseneck, as explained above.

The take-up shaft, if separate from the main shaft, can be readily geared thereto to revolve at the same speed with it.

Having now fully described the said invention and the manner of carrying the same into effect, what I claim is- 1. In combination with the needle, needlebar, and looper of a lock-stitch sewing-machine, a rotary take-up arranged in the head of the machine, and connecting mechanism whereby a uniform continuous rotation isimparted to the take-up, and the latter, with the needle and looper, are made to act in due sequence to form the stitch, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the needle, needlebar, and looperof a lock-stitch sewing-machine, of a horizontal rotary shaft mounted in bearings of the goose-neck or stationary arm and extending lengthwise of the same, a rotary take-up arranged in the head of the machine and rigidly fastened to and turning with said shaft, and connecting mechanism whereby a uniform continuous rotation is imparted to said shaft and take-up, and the latter, with the needle and looper, are made to act in due sequence to form the stitch, substantially as described.

3. A rotary take-up arranged in the head of a lock-stitch sewing-machine and comprising a device for positively drawing in the thread and for releasing it by moving away Without casting off the tightened thread, in combination with the needle, needle-bar, looper, and connecting mechanism, whereby a uniform continuous rotation is imparted to the takeup, and the latter, with the needle and looper, are made to act in due sequence to form the stitch, substantially as described.

4E. The combination, with the needle and needle-bar of a lock-stitch sewing-machine, of a rotary take-up arranged in the head of the machine outside the needle-bar, a looper arranged below the work-plate inside the path of the needle, and operating mechanism,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the needle and needle-bar of a lock-stitch sewing-machine, of a rotary take-up arranged in the head of the sewing-machine outside the needle-bar and comprising a device for positively drawing in the thread and for releasing it by moving away without casting off the tightened thread, a horizontal rotary shaft mounted in bearin gs of the goose-neck or stationary arm and carrying the take-up, a looper arranged below the work-plate inside the path of the needle, and connecting mechanism whereby a uniform continuous rotation is imparted to the shaft and take-up, and the latter, with the needle and looper, are made to act in due sequence to form the stitch, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAS. E. A. GIBBS.

W i tn esses:

JOHN MCCLURE, A. PoLLoK. 

